Time flies! It has been three months since my last post and during that time I’ve quit my job at the California Trail Interpretive Center in Nevada and relocated 3000 miles away (back home to Florida) to begin a new job in January. The new job is similar to the old job and I’ll write a blog post about it some day.

I’ll be working for a History museum again. I bring this up here because it relates to similarities and differences in our Bible study this week. Last time, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had a dream about a statue that had many features and God provided Daniel with the content and interpretation of the dream for the king. In this dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue and he was represented by the head of gold. All the other parts were made of lesser value materials and represented kingdoms that would follow, in time, after Nebuchadnezzar. In the concluding verses we read, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.’ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court. (Daniel 2:46-49).”

NOTE: You may be interested in reading a previous study that I did from this chapter in my “Rest of the Story” series of studies. It can be found at https://watchmakerspulse.com/2022/03/21/316-the-rest-of-the-story-our-response-19-daniel/.

Before we jump into the text for this week’s study, let’s examine the similarities and differences from Chapter 2. The passage is similar in that the focal point is a statue. We were also re-introduced to the main characters (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). The passage is different in that the statue is of Nebuchadnezzars actual construction, rather than a dream. We also see that Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the power of God in Chapter 2 but seems to have forgotten that in Chapter 3. Now let’s look at specifics.

“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, ‘You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.’”

I think Nebuchadnezzar was suffering from selective memory. Perhaps his dream from Chapter 2 was prompted by the fact that he had already commissioned the construction of this statue, or he was inspired by the dream to construct one. Either way, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue had a head of gold which represented Nebuchadnezzar, and this statue was built entirely of gold. Additionally, Daniel’s interpretation of the dream focused on the transitory nature of earthly kingdoms and the fact that God would ultimately set up His kingdom and all others would be in subjection to it. Nebuchadnezzar ignored this and demanded that he (through his statue) be worshipped by his subjects.

“Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’“

Another tie-in with Chapter 2 lies in Daniel’s friends, whom the king had placed in positions of authority at Daniel’s request. This no doubt caused ill feelings among the other leaders and they plotted against them. Nebuchadnezzar gives no indication of recalling that these are Daniel’s friends.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, ‘Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’“

In his anger, he tried to force Daniel’s friends into ignoring their convictions and bowing to his false god. They, however, stood their ground.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’“

I love this example of faith and obedience. They said that God is able to save them from Nebuchadnezzar, but even if he chooses not to, they will not worship anyone else.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.“

In a blind rage, the king ordered them thrown into the furnace in such a manner that the designated executioners were destroyed in the process.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ He answered and said, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.’“

Some conjecture that this fourth person was a pre-incarnation of Jesus. Whether it is or not, the fourth person was there to minister to Daniel’s friends but also to demonstrate to Nebuchadnezzar that he is not able to beat God.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!’ Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.’ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.“

Once again Nebuchadnezzar is brought to the point of acknowledging the sovereignty of God. We will see next time, though, that he retains his problem of selective memory. And that is where I want to leave this short study. I think we all should be very careful to evaluate our decisions in light of what we know to be true. It is easy to have selective memory, for example, when quoting some favorite Bible verse which supports our position on something, while completely ignoring the context in which that verse is found.

Or, we may here some piece of advice that tells us what we would like to here, and yet ignore any other cautions with which we are presented because they don’t match up with what we want to happen. I’ve recently been reading the book of Job (again) and am struck with the fact of how difficult that book is to glean wisdom from if you treat it on a verse by verse basis, and yet it makes complete sense when looked at as a whole picture. Keep the big picture in mind if you want to be right in your choices!